Blue Raiders drop midweek contest to Vanderbilt

Tuesday, April 28

Nashville, TN

3:30 p.m.

Middle Tennessee

22-23

Vanderbilt

27-19

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Middle Tennessee	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	7	0
Vanderbilt	2	1	3	3	0	0	0	0	X	9	10	0

4/28/2026 6:51:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

By: Willie Phaler, MTSU Athletic Communications

NASHVILLE, Tenn.- Middle Tennessee baseball (22-23, 9-12 CUSA) dropped a midweek contest on the road 9-1 to the Vanderbilt Commodores (27-19, 10-11 SEC).

While the Blue Raider bats were able to string together seven hits, it wasn't enough to overcome a strong day at the plate for Vanderbilt.

Right-hander Abel Albarran (L, 0-1) got the nod for his fourth midweek start of the season, and was tagged for six earned runs over 2.0+ innings.

In all, Middle Tennessee used six arms in the loss. Bryant Beranek hurled 2.0 innings of one-run ball, while John Michael Pickens, Walker Shaw, Landon Sexton and Colin Kerrigan each threw an inning each.

Clay Badylak was one of the bright spots of the day for the Blue Raiders. The fifth-year shortstop blasted his first home run of the season, pulling a solo shot out to the alley in right-center field in the top of the third.

Tyler Minnick added on with an extra-base hit of his own, hitting a double down the left-field line in the third. This extended Minnick's on-base streak to 35 games.

In the bottom of the fifth, Owen Nowak made a spectacular play in center field. The Blue Raider leadoff man brought back a home run off the bat of Rustan Rigdon. Nowak added a hit in the batter's box, extending his hitting streak to nine games.

By the numbers:

35: Tyler Minnick's on-base streak is now pushed to 35 games. Minnick became the first Blue Raider with an on-base streak of 30 or more since Dustin Delgado (30) in 2015. Minnick's streak started on March 1.

2: Clay Badylak's home run was the second of his career as a Blue Raider, and his first this season.

9x2: Owen Nowak's single pushed the junior's hitting streak to nine straight games. This is the second nine-game hitting streak of the season for Nowak.

Skipper Speaks (Head Coach Jerry Meyers)

'We got in some bad counts on the mound and we can't do that against another club that's that strong offensively, Meyers said. ... It's just one of those deals where I don't know if we played poorly. We got behind and that made it tough and gave them some cushion.

Player Perspective (Clay Badylak)

I think the biggest change came for me when I sat out against Tennessee Tech, Badylak said. I kind of got a mental reset that week. I didn't really swing for a couple days. And then in Sam Houston, I was just trying to keep it as simple as possible… I think it really translated to my confidence, it just went way up.

Up Next:

The Blue Raiders will return home for a three-game series against Western Kentucky (24-21, 9-12 CUSA). First pitch of game one on Friday night is scheduled for 6 p.m. CT, and it will be FSL night at The Reese. There will be a free hot dog giveaway while supplies last, along with a free three-quarter sleeve shirt giveaway to the first 100 fans.

The game will be televised on ESPN+, with a radio and audio stream available on WGNS and the Blue Raider Network.